Friday, November 21, 2008

The religion storyline that got the most attention during the general election was rumors that Barack Obama is a Muslim (30%). According to a new Pew Forum study, there were only 283 stories in which religion or religious issues played a significant role. Jeremiah Wright, Michael Pfleger and John Hagee alone made up 11% of religion coverage in the general election. Five percent of the religion-focused coverage dealt with James Dobson’s criticism of Obama’s positions.

Less than one percent of campaign news coverage related to abortion issues gay marriage or stem cell research. Most of the stories on abortion involved Sarah Palin’s parenting choices and the Saddleback forum at Rick Warren’s church.